In 2009 I adopted the universal product code (UPC-A)
'0-22099-70898-8' as the signifier of the digital Robert John
Taylor. Conceptually this digital self is the collection of all
electronic information related to Robert John Taylor, both
Personally Identifiable Information or PII and Non PII, networked
into one cohesive whole. It is a conclusion of the accretion of
information that is now underway. I called the conceptual work of
art 'Horizontal Integration'

Replacing a name with a number might seem like becoming anonymous.
Numbers are often used to anonymize people, this is literally true
in that they do make one nameless. But numbers do not remove
identity, in fact, numbers distinguish identity. As identifiers
names are messy. They vary in length, spelling, and punctuation.
And most significantly they are not distinct (a recent Google
search for Robert John Taylor produced more than 280 million hits.)
However, a number like an UPC has a fixed format, built in error
detection, and is by design unique.

'I Am a Commodity' (2010) extended 'Horizontal
Integration' by analyzing this digital Robert John Taylor. I
considered what electronic information might be available about
Robert John Taylor and from where it might come. I found that there
was far more than I had anticipated. A data penumbra blooms from a
daily routine of commuting, shopping, wifi connections, web
traffic, etc. And an entire industry has been developed to collect,
package, and market it. Big Data is big business. The Robert John
Taylor profile is likely very detailed.

Advances in the collection, storage, transfer, and
processing of large data sets has become so sophisticated that it
effectively eliminates anonymity. Unexpectedly it is the anonymous
data that is most revealing. The intersection of a myriad of
anonymous numbers. So, rather than representing a homogenized,
generic identity 0-22099-70898-8 is my badge of
individuality. 0-22099-70898-8 signifies the contents
of Robert John Taylor as much as 0-38000-00127-7
signifies the contents of
a 24 ounce box of Kellogg's
Corn Flakes.